# Ace Atkins > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ace_Atkins > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ace_Atkins.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Atkins > Source revision: 1356591130 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American journalist and author|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox writer | name = Ace Atkins | image = Ace Atkins Natick MA 2013.jpg | caption = Ace Atkins (2013; age 43). | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1970|06|28}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Novelist | language = English | nationality = American | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = [Auburn University](/source/Auburn_University) | period = | genre = Crime fiction, mystery | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = {{URL|aceatkins.com}} | portaldisp = }} '''Ace Atkins''' (born June 28, 1970){{Cite web |url=http://www.aceatkins.com/About/QuickFacts.html |title=Official Site of American Writer Ace Atkins | About: Quick Facts |access-date=2013-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323003817/http://www.aceatkins.com/About/QuickFacts.html |archive-date=2012-03-23 |url-status=dead }} is an American journalist and author. He became a [full-time](/source/Full-time_job) novelist at the age of 30.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} ==Biography== Born in 1970, Atkins is the son of [NFL](/source/National_Football_League) player [Billy Atkins](/source/Billy_Atkins_(American_football)).{{cite news |last1=Shearer|first1=Jeff |title=On the cover: From sacks to books, Auburn's Ace Atkins stands tall |url=https://auburntigers.com/news/2020/9/20/general-on-the-cover-from-sacks-to-books-auburns-ace-atkins-stands-tall.aspx |access-date=2021-10-13 |work=[Auburn Tigers](/source/Auburn_Tigers) |date=September 20, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Edgemon|first1=Erin |title=Alabama native, bestselling author Ace Atkins to be honored |url=https://www.al.com/entertainment/2017/04/alabama_native_bestselling_aut.html |access-date=2021-10-13 |work=[AL.com](/source/AL.com) |date=January 13, 2019}} Atkins lettered for the Auburn University [football team](/source/American_football) in 1992 and 1993.{{cite web|url=http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/story/296560.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127203547/http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/story/296560.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-27 |title=A Q and A with author Ace Atkins |last=Barnes |first=Brad |date=April 14, 2008 |publisher=Columbus Ledger-Enquirer |accessdate=2010-01-26 }} He was featured on the ''[Sports Illustrated](/source/Sports_Illustrated)'' cover commemorating the Tigers' perfect 11–0 season of 1993. The cover shows Atkins celebrating after sacking future [Heisman Trophy](/source/Heisman_Trophy) winner [Danny Wuerffel](/source/Danny_Wuerffel) of the [Florida Gators](/source/Florida_Gators). Atkins wore number 99 for the Tigers.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}. He graduated from [Auburn University](/source/Auburn_University) in 1994. Atkins worked{{when|date=May 2022}} as a crime reporter in the newsroom of ''[The Tampa Tribune](/source/The_Tampa_Tribune)'' before he published his first novel, ''Crossroad Blues'' (1998).{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} While at the ''Tribune'', Atkins earned a [Pulitzer Prize](/source/Pulitzer_Prize) nomination for a feature series based on his investigation into a forgotten murder of the 1950s.{{cite web|url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/may/17/devils-garden-is-a-remarkable-book/|title='Devil's Garden' is a remarkable book|last=DeSilva|first=Bruce|date=April 20, 2009|publisher=[Associated Press](/source/Associated_Press)|accessdate=2013-05-08 }} The story became the core of his critically acclaimed novel, ''White Shadow'', which was commented on positively by noted authors and [critics](/source/critics). In his next novels, ''Wicked City'' and ''Devil's Garden'', Atkins continued this kind of story-telling, a style that was compared to that of [Dennis Lehane](/source/Dennis_Lehane) and [George Pelecanos](/source/George_Pelecanos). ''White Shadow'' (2006), ''Wicked City'' (2008), and ''Devil's Garden'' (2009) are personal books for Atkins, all set in his former homes: [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco), where he lived as a child; [Alabama](/source/Alabama), his family's home and where he was born and went to college; and [Tampa](/source/Tampa), where he embarked on his career as a writer. Each novel contains bits of himself – friends and colleagues he once knew, people he respected or admired, family members, and personal heroes.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} In ''Devil's Garden'', Atkins explores the early life of one of those heroes: [Dashiell Hammett](/source/Dashiell_Hammett), the originator of the hard-boiled [crime novel](/source/Crime_fiction). As a [Pinkerton Agency](/source/Pinkerton_Agency) detective, Hammett investigated the [rape](/source/rape) and [manslaughter](/source/manslaughter) case against early [Hollywood](/source/Cinema_of_the_United_States) [star](/source/Movie_star) [Roscoe Arbuckle](/source/Roscoe_Arbuckle), one of the most sensational trials of the 20th Century. Atkins' novel ''Infamous'' (2010) is based on the 1933 [Charles Urschel](/source/Charles_F._Urschel) kidnapping and subsequent misadventures of the gangster couple [George "Machine Gun"](/source/Machine_Gun_Kelly_(gangster)) and Kathryn Kelly.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} In 2011, Atkins was selected by the estate of [Robert B. Parker](/source/Robert_B._Parker) to take over writing the [Spenser](/source/Spenser_(character)) series of novels.[http://archive.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2011/04/28/parkers_series_live_on/ "Parker's series live on" by Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein, ''Boston Globe'' April 28, 2011] ''[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe)'' wrote that while some people might have "viewed the move as unseemly, those people didn't know Robert B. Parker, a man who, when asked how his books would be viewed in 50 years, replied: 'Don't know, don't care.' He was proud of his work, but he mainly saw writing as a means of providing a comfortable life for his family."{{cite news|last1=Bissonette|first1=Zac|title=Robert B. Parker is dead. Long live Robert B. Parker!|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2013/05/11/how-robert-parker-family-has-ensured-that-spenser-adventures-continue/Ae3xng4kdtXGUi1lawut3L/story.html|accessdate=13 January 2016|work=Boston Globe|date=May 12, 2013}} His 2016 Parker novel ''Slow Burn'' won a [Scribe Award](/source/Scribe_Award) for Best Original Novel.{{cite web|url=https://locusmag.com/2017/07/2017-scribe-awards-winners|title=2017 Scribe Award Winners|publisher=Locus Online|date=July 27, 2017|access-date=August 6, 2025}} ==Personal life== In a 2023 interview for [CrimeReads](/source/CrimeReads), Atkins said he's been living for the past twenty years on a historic farm outside [Oxford, Mississippi](/source/Oxford%2C_Mississippi) with his family.{{cite web | url=https://crimereads.com/larry-browns-father-and-son-ace-atkins/ | title=The Backlist: Revisiting Larry Brown's "''Father and Son''" with Ace Atkins |website= CrimeReads|date=2 February 2023 }} ==Novels== ===Nick Travers=== #''Crossroad Blues'' (1998) #''Leavin' Trunk Blues'' (2000) #''Dark End of the Street'' (2002) #''Dirty South'' (2004) ===Quinn Colson=== #''The Ranger'' (2011){{cite news|last1=Anderson|first1=Patrick|title=Review of Ace Atkins's 'The Ranger'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/review-of-ace-atkins-the-ranger/2011/05/31/AGuCYjJH_story.html|newspaper=Washington Post|accessdate=7 June 2015}}{{cite web|last1=MARTINDALE|first1=DAVID|title=Author interview: Ace Atkins talks about 'The Ranger'|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/books/20110610-author-interview-ace-atkins-talks-about-the-ranger.ece|publisher=Dallas News|accessdate=7 June 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Kardos|first1=Michael|title=Book review: 'The Forsaken' by Ace Atkins|url=http://www.clarionledger.com/story/life/2014/12/13/book-review-forsaken-ace-atkins/20363377/|publisher=Clarion Ledger|accessdate=7 June 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Gill|first1=Leonard|title=Summer Book Roundup|date=3 October 2014 |url=http://www.memphismagazine.com/September-2014/Summer-Book-Roundup/|publisher=Memphis Magazine|accessdate=7 June 2015}} #''The Lost Ones'' (2012){{cite web|last1=Weaver|first1=Kendal|title=Book review: Second Quinn Colson novel features romance, dark family secret|url=http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID%3D/20120604/LIVING/306049988/-1/LIVING|publisher=News Sentinel|accessdate=7 June 2015}}{{Dead link|date=October 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|last1=Bancroft|first1=Colette|title=Review: Ace Atkins' 'The Lost Ones' has Quinn Colson searching on the mean streets|url=https://www.tampabay.com/features/books/review-ace-atkins-the-lost-ones-has-quinn-colson-searching-on-the-mean/1234102/|publisher=Tampa Bay|access-date=7 June 2015}} #''The Broken Places'' (2013){{cite web|last1=Noble|first1=Don|title=Books:The Broken Places: A Quinn Colson Novel and Robert B. Parker's Wonderland|date=15 July 2013 |url=http://apr.org/post/broken-places-quinn-colson-novel-and-robert-b-parker-s-wonderland|publisher=APR|accessdate=7 June 2015}} #''The Forsaken'' (2014){{cite web|last1=Anderson|first1=Lanie|title=Atkins pens new novel, signs Wednesday|work=Oxford Citizen |date=July 20, 2014 |url=http://oxfordcitizen.com/2014/07/20/atkins-pens-new-novel-signs-wednesday/|accessdate=7 June 2015}} #''The Redeemers'' (2015){{cite web|title=Review: 'The Redeemers' by Ace Atkins|date=17 July 2015 |url=https://theoctobercountry.wordpress.com/2015/07/17/review-the-redeemers-by-ace-atkins/|publisher=October Country|accessdate=2 August 2015}} #''The Innocents'' (2016) #''The Fallen'' (2017){{cite web|title=The Fallen (A Quinn Colson Novel)|url=http://www.aceatkins.com/books/the-fallen-a-quinn-colson-novel/ |publisher=aceatkins.com|accessdate=27 July 2017}} #''The Sinners'' (2018) #''The Shameless'' (2019) #''The Revelators'' (2020) #''The Heathens'' (2021) ===[Robert B. Parker](/source/Robert_B._Parker)'s [Spenser](/source/Spenser_(character))=== *''Robert B. Parker's Lullaby'' (2012) *''Robert B. Parker's Wonderland'' (2013) *''Robert B. Parker's Cheap Shot'' (2014) *''Robert B. Parker's Kickback'' (2015) *''Robert B. Parker's Slow Burn'' (2016) *''Robert B. Parker's Little White Lies'' (2017) *''Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic'' (2018) *''Robert B. Parker's Angel Eyes'' (2019) *''Robert B. Parker’s Someone To Watch Over Me'' (2020) *''Robert B. Parker's Bye Bye Baby'' (2022) ===Standalone Novels=== *''White Shadow'' (2006) 400 pages {{ISBN|0-425-23054-6}} *''Wicked City'' (2008) 368 pages {{ISBN|0-425-22707-3}} *''Devil's Garden'' (2009) 368 pages {{ISBN|0-399-15536-8}} *''Infamous'' (2010) 416 pages {{ISBN|0-399-15630-5}} ==See also== *[List of Auburn University people](/source/List_of_Auburn_University_people) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [https://aceatkins.com/ Official website] * [http://www.noexit.co.uk/index1.php?imprint=1&thisauthorid=308 Author page, UK publisher (No Exit Press)]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Ace}} Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:American crime fiction writers Category:American male novelists Category:American non-fiction crime writers Category:Auburn High School (Alabama) alumni Category:Auburn University alumni Category:Auburn Tigers football players Category:20th-century American novelists Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American novelists Category:People from Oxford, Mississippi Category:Novelists from Mississippi Category:21st-century American male writers Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:Southern noir writers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ace Atkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Atkins) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Atkins?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.